It is a strong comment on our current times when Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen -- from neither of the main French political parties of right and left - get through the first ballot and the markets breath a sigh of relief.

French stocks led a wider European share rally with the CAC 40 Index climbing more than four per cent and the euro being up around 1.2 per cent against the pound.

And yet this is all for the emergence as a frontrunner of a candidate in Macron that conventional wisdom of political observers said had no chance.

Far-right contender Marine Le Pen will run off against Macron

At 39 he is too young, they said, and having quit his role as minister of the economy in Francis Hollande's Government he went out on his own with no party backing. Political suicide they said – he had no chance.

And now in a straight run-off in the next round with Le Pen of the Le Front National, all moderate opinion of right and left is throwing their weight behind Macron and he looks extremely likely to win.

This has its own political implications – as George Osborne has just Tweeted today Macron's frontrunner status shows that you can win from the centre.

He has policies that the Financial Times described as a “business-friendly agenda coupled with Nordic-style welfarism”. Now is that political platform with wider appeal?

But this matters particularly because whoever wins the French Presidnecy will have a major say in how the EU negotiates with the UK on Brexit.

A Le Pen victory would send shock waves through Europe and would lead to a potential break-up or likely major changes in the composition of the EU with her commitment to a 'Frexit'.

As you might expect from a fromer minister for the economy, industry and digital affairs, Macron has business friendly policies

But as Markus Kuger, a senior economist at Dun & Bradstreet said today Macron “supports the EU taking a tough stance in the yet-to-be-started Brexit talks.”

The campaign proper now begins and it is a straight two-way fight between two very different visions of France and of Europe.

As John Wyn-Evans, Head of Investment Strategy at Investec Wealth & Investment, said today: “We acknowledge that M Macron’s En Marche! Party is unlikely to attain a parliamentary majority in June’s legislative elections, but believe that a centrist, market-friendly coalition can be formed.”

If that is the case then yesterday's events will have been shown to have made a significant contribution in setting the future direction for Europe and that will have important effects on us all.